Chevron Corp. v. Berlinger, No. 10-1918

By FindLaw Staff on January 14, 2011 12:51 PM

Order Compelling Discovery Affirmed

In Chevron Corp. v. Berlinger, No. 10-1918, respondents' appeal from an order compelling disclosure of respondents' film outtakes for use in proceedings in foreign tribunals, the court affirmed where, given all the circumstances of the making of the film, as reasonably found by the district court, particularly the fact that respondent's making of the film was solicited by the plaintiffs in a foreign litigation for the purpose of telling their story, and that changes to the film were made at their instance, respondent failed to carry his burden of showing that he collected information for the purpose of independent reporting and commentary.

As the court wrote: "This is an appeal in a proceeding under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Kaplan, J.) compelling disclosure for use in proceedings in foreign tribunals. The appeal involves the application of the qualified evidentiary privilege for information gathered during a journalistic investigation, sometimes described as the "press privilege" or "journalist's privilege.""

About U.S. Second Circuit

U.S. Second Circuit features features news and information from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which hears appeals from U.S. District Courts in Connecticut, New York and Vermont. This blog also features news that would be of interest to legal professionals practicing in the 2nd Circuit. Have a comment or tip? Write to us.